Chances of Ebola spreading to Europe "very, very, very low"

Professor Peter Piot said he would 'happily sit next to an infected person on a plane or train'

Ebola: An expert in the virus says it's "very unlikely" Ebola could come to the UK

A scientist who helped discover the deadly Ebola virus has said the current outbreak is 'extremely unlikely' to spread to Europe.

Professor Peter Piot, who was part of the team that discovered the virus in 1976, said that the likelihood the epidemic could spread in the UK was "very, very, very low".

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Prof Opinion: Professor Peter Piot, was one of the co-discoverers of the Ebola virus during its first outbreak in Zaire, in 1976

While concerns have been raised that border staff do not feel properly prepared to deal with the chance of people with Ebola coming to the UK, Prof Piot said he would happily sit next to an infected person on a plane or train.

He said border staff should not be concerned because those with full-blown Ebola would not be well enough to travel.

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Outbreak Fear: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) putting on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital in Conakry, where people infected with the Ebola virus are being treated.

Prof Piot, who is now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said even if someone came to the UK during the incubation period, infection control measures in Britain would prevent the spread of the virus.

He said: "In Europe, the way I see it is that there is a good probability that someone will enter a country while incubating - when you have Ebola, frankly you can't travel you are so sick - it's the incubation time when people can enter the country.

"Here, because of our infection control and standards in hospitals, I think that the likelihood that would give rise to an epidemic is very, very, very low."

He said that he wouldn't mind sitting next to an infected person on a plane or train, adding: "By that I mean someone who is already infected but is not yet ill. Even in the early days when they have fever, that's also not risky for others.

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Killer Virus: Symptoms of the deadly and uncurable Ebola virus

"It's when they start bleeding, have diarrhoea and are vomiting, that's risky, but someone with full-blown Ebola infection can't travel. Even then you still need close contact. It's not like tuberculosis or Sars or the flu - that you can catch on a bus, but not Ebola.

"When someone is extremely ill - that is when they are very infectious, but at that stage patients can hardly move - they are not mobile.

"This is not a very contagious infection, you need close contact with someone who is really ill or who died from it. For border agents there is no problem that I can see.

"I think the key risk is for health workers. When someone comes (to hospital) with fever and some other symptoms health workers just have to ask where the person has been in the past month. If the answer is Sierra Leone then the red light should be flashing, and then that will require referral to a specialised unit, and the hospitals here are prepared for that."

Risk Zones: The outbreak has centred on African countries like Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia

Prof Piot said he did not think there was a risk of the epidemic spreading to Europe, but he added that in Africa the outbreak could reach other countries such as the Ivory Coast.

Latest figures from the World Health Organisation show that the outbreak of the deadly virus in western Africa has infected more than 1,300 people and killed at least 729. Ebola has no vaccine and there is no cure.

The outbreak has centred on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. There has also been particular concern after densely populated Nigeria reported what is thought to be its first death from the disease on Friday.

Earlier the general secretary of the Immigration Service Union, Lucy Moreton, said the union's members were were not confident over what to do if they suspected someone of being sick coming into the UK.

But the Government has said that officers have been given guidance on how to identify and deal with suspected Ebola cases safely.

Public Health England has warned health officials to be on the lookout for any unexplained illness in people returning from the affected countries.